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Hankook Ventus V12 Tires

I have seen previous messages regarding tires so thought I'd share my recent experience. Had to replace old Bridgestone RE050As, run flat. Stiff, harsh tires but on a smooth dry road, great cornering. after much research (and internal debate) decided to try the Hankook Ventus V12 non run flats. They had very good reviews in comparison to PS2s and price was close to half of PS2 or RE050A RFTs. Have a couple thousand kms on them and am very satisfied. Much smoother, more give on bumps/potholes which I can't avoid where I live, noticeably quieter at all speeds. With more give to the sidewalls, cornering is not quite as much "on the rails" but my experience to date is the Hankooks stick better to the road than the RE050As. There has been some messages that the Hankooks wear fast but so far for me, nothing unexpected. But need more mileage to tell.

Re: Hankook Ventus V12 Tires

Keep us up to date on mileage. At their price point it may just be worth trying out. You are about the 3rd or 4th such good report I have read recently on these tires.

I do a lot of aggressive driving on such roads as the Tail of the Dragon so I am really driven by cornering feel and have been disappointed in PS2s and P ZEROs. I keep going back to RFTs (3rd set now). My mileage for worst tire in a set of 4 on RFTs is ~25k miles. PS2s and P ZEROs could not make 20k miles.

Re: Hankook Ventus V12 Tires

Now have about 5k kilos on the tires and some time on wet roads. Continue to be very impressed. An added plus is they seem to keep the new black look to the sidewalls better than most I've had. Definitely better than the RE050As. Wear so far seems normal.

Re: Hankook Ventus V12 Tires

Just had to change my rear bridgestone RFTs on my 2005 645ci and had a lot of tread left o the outside and middle of the tyres. The Aussie BMW dealer said they were unsafe and would not pass registration as the inside edge of the tyre was worn down below the legal limit (not sure if this is the same in the US) and stated that this is a common problem with 6 series. Is that your understandingh ?? (jopeysta/Cobradav)

Re: Tire wear

Yes, that is generally true that the inside does wear faster than middle / outside. This is due to negative camber as designed in by BMW. It is an attempt by BMW to help reduce oversteer and keep more surface contact on twisty roads. If you do not do a lot of twisty road driving than I would suggest being less aggressive on the negative camber. I believe the spec for 05 645 is - 1.5 degrees (+/- 20 minutes). You could easily go to -1 degree to improve straight line tire wear at the sacrifice of improved cornering performance. When I say cornering performance, I mean AGGRESSIVE high speed cornering speed. If you drive in a less aggressive manner and take corners at recommended speeds I don't think you would note any difference. May also reduce any tramlining you may have experienced.

I am right at spec and have slightly more wear on inside than middle/outside.

Re: Tire wear

Thanks Cobradav, makes me feel a little bit better when I am not alone in experiencing this tyre wear. My only other concern is that since having the 645 with the RFTs , I happened to have pick up one bolt, a screw and a nail in three separate tyres making them a very expensive replacement cost as they are valued around $1020 each (Australian dollars =approx $890 US dollars). BMW service tell me they cannot be mended and do not recommend mending. I felt so guilty throwing three tyres away with so much mileage left in them. Is this your understanding ?

Re: Tire wear -ouch

Ouch for two reasons, the number of issues you have had and the cost of each!!

You may have cause to coin a new phrase for RFTs "Aussie Flat Magnets"

As to repair: Here is what the Bridgestone Web site says:

Q: Is it possible to repair a Run-Flat tire that has been punctured? A: It depends on how far and at what speed the car was driven after the puncture was sustained. Repair is possible only if deemed so by the tire sales store. Preconditions include a puncture of less than 6mm for both side-reinforced type and support-ring type Run-Flat tires, plus minimal damage to the support ring in case of the latter.
However, it is strongly recommended that the tire is replaced as its durability will have been weakened after being repaired.

I might also note that BMW dealers here ALWAYS say "oh no you cannot repair RFTs". However, the most common advice from tire stores from my personal inquiries and borne out by several reported experiences gleened from other forums is that a small hole in the tread can be successfully repaired by removal of the tire and an inside patch applied, but never plug a tire. And then it is recommended that the tire be treated as if it is down one level in speed rating. Big deal that as these are rated at 168 (W) mph and would go DOWN to 149 mph (V) rating! What cannot and should not be attempted is a repair to a hole in the side wall or very outside edge of tread. That would be really unsafe.

My suggestion is to ask a reputable tire sales store that deals in RFTs for their opinion on a specific situation.

Now to other bad news (from your perspective) - OEM RFTs for our car is about $420 (including shipping of the most expensive of the two sizes on Sport Package equipped 6er) from our internet discounter Tire Rack. I had three sets drop shipped to my BMW dealer for them to install (max cost was $35 per tire). Now I do installs at a neighborhood tire store at a slightly less cost per wheel/tire.

US BMW dealers tend to mark up around 40%, that is that ~$420 tire typically sells for ~$570 at a BMW dealer. Some even more.

I did try some non-RFT tires (Michelen PS2 and Pirelli P Zeros) but always came back to RFTs as I could not really feel any difference and I like the safety/security of RFTs.

Re: Tire wear -ouch

Thanks again Cobradav for your supportive feedback. I will just have to rely on the luck of the draw and hope that there are no loose nails, screws or other sharp metal objects out there waiting to be attracted by my "Magnetic" tyres.

Re: Hankook Ventus V12 Tires

Now have 10k kilos on them. Amount of wear continues to be normal and excellent performance from them. Best at higher temps, good for normal driving too, quiet, and no problems experienced in rain. Have had up to over 200k per hour and remain very quiet, stable, etc. So continue to be impressed. One thing I've noticed is to ensure you do not over inflate as they tend to feel a bit jumpy/twitchy then as I found with the Bridestone Potenzas.

My first set of Hankook V12s just installed

Based on your review and other positive reviews around the BMW forums I have just put my first set of V12s on. Look good and so far the feel/sound is ok. The proof will be on the Tail of the Dragon in less than three weeks. I'll reserve my real judgement till then ;-)

Cobradev. Need new tyres on my '06 E64 Individual on 19 inch rims. Looking to change to non run flats. Was going to go Michelin PS but see you tried and disliked. Also see these V12s seem popular - what was your experience since Sep? Still on them? In the UK so get a fair bit of rain!

Cobradev. Need new tyres on my '06 E64 Individual on 19 inch rims. Looking to change to non run flats. Was going to go Michelin PS but see you tried and disliked. Also see these V12s seem popular - what was your experience since Sep? Still on them? In the UK so get a fair bit of rain!

Well I only got about 1200 miles on a set of 20" before I totaled car on my 61st run on the Tail of the Dragon. I have a set of 19" I never mounted on car and for sale here in US as I have not replaced car yet.

But the few runs I did do on the tail were pretty good. Turn-in OK, a little less grip on rears powering out of turns compared to both OEM and PS2 tires. But I sure cannot speak to mileage results, obviously.

I now have close to 20,000 Kilometers on a set. Continue to be great tires though they definitely stick best in warmer to hot temperatures. Not much different than most tires. Put on 19,000 kilometers last summer and expect to do around that this summer. Tread wear is good and no reason to believe tires will not last this summer too for me. For the price, I recommend them with no hesitation. They are not run flats so some trade-off there if that is key to you.